Portable trail grooming device

ABSTRACT

This Trail Groomer is designed to adapt itself to the trail condition, and automatically reduces the load on the towing vehicle whenever the groomer meets high resistance such as iced snow cover or very heavy snow fall. The unloading of the groomer is accomplished by tilting the main beam upwards to lift a fixed blade, and pulling a lifting wedge which responds to excessive draw-bar pull under a movable blade to reduce some of the load of snow.

United-States Patent 1 1 Cheney v 3,795,069 4 1 Mar.5, 1974 [54]PORTABLE TRAIL GROOMING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Stanley 0. Cheney, WestSpringfield, NH. 03284 [22] Filed: July 5, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 269,119-

[52] US. Cl 37/48, 404/11'8, 172/200, 172/767, 172/682, 172/142,172/727, 172/393 [51] Int. Cl E0lh 5/00 [58] Field of Search 172/612,744, 200, 748, 767, 172/778, 779, 197, 199, 142, 188, 195, 382,

I [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,114,442 10/1914 Brodie37/48 1,161,275 11/1915 Wood 37/41 945,787 1/1910 Krajcck 37/413,666,020 5/1972 Hess 37/41 235,431 12/1880 Harter 172/197 X 791,7266/1905 Schutte 404/118 X 2,402,314 6/1946 Crane 172/26.5 X

-197,867 12/1877 Krick .Q l72/l95 2,101,567 12/1937 Winsor 172/3932,786,283 3/1957 Bradley 37/50 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 110,0203/1940 Australia 172/705 678,804 4/1930 France 679,693 4/1930 France172/652 Primary Examiner-R0bert E. Pulfrey Assistant ExaminerEugene H.Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert J. Schiller; Nicholas A.Pandiscio [5 7] ABSTRACT This Trail .Groomer is designed to adapt itselfto the trail condition, and automatically reduces the load on Y thetowing vehicle whenever the groomer meets high resistance such as icedsnow cover or very heavy snow fall. The unloading of the groomer isaccomplished by tilting the main beam upwards to lift a fixed blade, andpulling a lifting wedge which responds to excessive draw-bar pull undera movable blade to reduce some of the load of snow.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PORTABLE TRAIL GROOMING DEVICE Thisinvention relates to an easily portable trail grooming deviceparticularly designed for individual use, and for use with over-the-snowvehicles of low and medium horse power.

There are many situations where a pleasant .ski slope can be made, orthe bumps in a snow vehicle trail can be cut down if the groomer weresmall enough to be pulled by a low-powered vehicle. One can operate iteasily, for it adjusts itself to snow conditions without the operatorrunning back constantlyto dump overaccumulations of .snow, or raise theheight of the groomer blades. I

In my application, Ser. No. 269,077, filed simultaneously with thisapplication, I disclosed a trail groomer characterized by a plurality ofsemi-circular grooming blades which successfully grooms the snow ontrails usually opened for commercial purposes. The entire contents ofthe said application is incorporated herein by reference.

' Since the purpose of the present invention is to produce a groomerwhich is light, portable, and capable of being carried to the ski slopeor vehicle trail in the trunk of an automobile, the present groomer isdesigned to be easily disassembled and packed in the trunk space. Moretrips over the easily groomed area may be required to produce asatisfactory trail than does the groomer disclosed in the said companionapplication, but nevertheless, this small groomer will produce a trailwhich is comfortable and well cleared of moguls even when it is towed bya low-powered overthe-snow vehicle.

The device includes a centrally located beam, which conveniently may begalvanized pipe approximately 12 feet long, jointed so that it can bedisassembled and transported in parts. A fixed shear for cutting downmoguls is fastened to the forward section of the-beam, and carries'adownwardly projecting blade, while a curved blade which cuts, grooms,and also levels the snow, is fastened to oppositely directed strutsextending outwardly and rearwardly from the fixed mogul shear.

. The accompanying figures show the device:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the groomer,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the groomer with the blade in the position formaximum cut. The dotted lines on FIG. 2 show the position of the groomerblade and the mogul shear, when the blade has been lifted to its highand14, are rigidly fastenedto the rigid shear, 15, the

purpose of which is to cut down moguls. Shear, I5, is formed from apiece of angle iron with one. arm, 16, bolted to beam, I I, and theother, 17, projecting downwardly to make a cutting blade.

Struts, l3 and 14, are wide and are twistedslightly so i as to runagainst the snow with a slight angle of attack. The ends of struts, l3and 14, are bent downwards at right angles to-their plane in order toprovide an attachment portion, 18, to which the tracking links, 19 and21, are pivoted. i

Side rails, 22 and 23, are pivoted adjacent the end of the trackinglinks at 24-24. An arcuate groomer and shearing blade, 25, is pivoted onthe side rails, 22 and 23, at the pivots, 26-26. Solid blades can beused, but to reduce the weight of the groomer, blade, 25, can be formedof relatively thin-gaged hardened steel, reinforced however by anarcuate stiffening bar, 27, fastened to the thin blade in anyappropriate manner as, e.g., spot welding.

The rear of the device is occupied by a lifting ski, 28, which has aski-like shape flaring outward toward its rear end. A wedge or fin, 29,placed along the axis of ski, 28, rises steeply from the ski portion.

A draw-bar unit, 31, is mounted on the forward end of beam, 11, and isadapted to slide along the beam when pull is exerted through the chainbridle, 32, and the actual draw bar, 33. The lower portion of drawbarunit, 31, is equipped with a rigid cam, 34, which can depressthe-lifting shoe, 35, as the draw-bar assembly is pulled forward. Liftshoe, 35, is fastened to the beam, 11, by pivot pin, 36, which passesthrough two cars, 37--37, formed on the shoe.

The upper rear portion of draw-bar unit 31, carries a pull link, 38,- towhich it is fastened by pivot pin, 39. The rear end of pull link, 38, ispivoted on lever, 41, which in turn is pivoted on beam, 11, at 42.

A strong return spring, 43, stretched between the rear end of beam, 11,and lift ski, 28, normally pulls the lift ski into its maximum retractedposition as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. When, however, resistance tothe forward motion of the groomer causes the return spring, 43, tostretch, wedge, 29, slides under blade, 25, and raises it as shown indotted lines in FIG. 2. At the same time,.the draw-bar unit, 3], ispulled toward the forward end of beam, 11, causing cam, 34, to depressthe lift show, shoe, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The action ofthe lifting shoe, 35, lifts beam, 11, upward and reduces the depth towhich the blade, 17, of

' the mogul shear is pushed into the snow. Since shear,

25, is also raised, the amount of snow which is cut and moved isautomatically adjusted to the draw-bar effort of the towing'vehicle.

This operation of lifting both the grooming blade and the mogul sheardepends upon the adjustment of the tension exerted by return spring, 43.Proper tension is determined not only by the draw-bar pull of the towingvehicle, but by the snow conditions of the day. Setting the springproperly is accomplished by turning the threaded'hand wheel, 44, whichwithdraws the eye bolt, 45, holding spring, 43.

In towing this device along a trail, one side is often higher than theother, and this is almost always the case when the trail rounds curves.Tracking links, 19 and 21, by hinging up and down, allow either end ofthe curved shear to ride in a plane above or below that occupied by thebeam, 1]. It is possible for this device which weighs but 87 lbs. togroom acceptably a wide 42-inch trail with a comparatively low-poweredover-thesnow vehicle. The fact that it is self-adjusting to the loadmeans that the operator does not have to stop the machine,jump off andadjust the shears to meet the snow conditions. He can continue on hismachine and do an acceptable job. It entirely overcomes the chance ofdigging holes in the trail when the groomer is stuck and the treads ofthe towing vehicle continue to turn and dig..

which resist upset, and when they are bent with an upward cant will notdive under an icy crust, but rather V ride up over it. In givingstability to the device, particularly in crusted snow, a wide flat strutis a great improvement. In the present example, the struts are 3 Vainches wide.

I claim: 1. A trailgroomer comprising a. a beam extending along theaxisof the groomer, b. a downwardly directed mogul shear rigidly fastened tosaid beam, c. side rails positioned respectively remote from and onopposite sides of said beam, d. oppositely and rearwardly directedstruts extending from the said mogul shear to the said side rails, e. asemi-circular shear fastened at each end to the respective side rails,f. a slider adapted to move toward the forward end of said beam, g. adraw bar. attached to the slider, h. a wedge slidable on said beam andpositioned adjacent its rear end, i. a return spring normally urging thewedge into its fully retracted position, and j. linkage means connectingthe slider and the said wedge adapted to pull the wedge forward on thebeam when the resistance to the forward motion of the groomer exceedsthe retractive force of said return spring and thereby raise the saidsemi-circular shear to relieve a portion of its load of snow.

2. A trail groomer as claimedin claim 1 wherein the forward end of saidbeam bears a downwardly directed hinged shoe and wherein the said slidercarries a downwardly directed'cam cooperating to depress the shoewhenever the slider is pulled towards the front end of said beam. i I

3. A grooming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said rigidlyfastened struts terminate in a vertically positioned portion, trackinglinks pivoted on the said vertical end portion of the struts, and acurved grooming blade and shear pivoted adjacent each end on the saidtracking links to permit either end of the said shear to assume aposition above or below the plane of said beam.

4. A trail grooming device as claimed in claim 3 having side railspivotally attached to the said tracking links and to the said curvedshear to prevent the sid drifting of the device.

1. A trail groomer comprising a. a beam extending along the axis of thegroomer, b. a downwardly directed mogul shear rigidly fastened to saidbeam, c. side rails positioned respectively remote from and on oppositesides of said beam, d. oppositely and rearwardly directed strutsextending from the said mogul shear to the said side rails, e. asemi-circular shear fastened at each end to the respective side rails,f. a slider adapted to move toward the forward end of said beam, g. adraw bar attached to the slider, h. a wedge slidable on said beam andpositioned adjacent its rear end, i. a return spring normally urging thewedge into its fully retracted position, and j. linkage means connectingthe slider and the said wedge adapted to pull the wedge forward on thebeam when the resistance to the forward motion of the groomer exceedsthe retractive force of said return spring and thereby raise the saidsemi-circular shear to relieve a portion of its load of snow.
 2. A trailgroomer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the forward end of said beam bearsa downwardly directed hinged shoe and wherein the said slider carries adownwardly directed cam cooperating to depress the shoe whenever theslider is pulled towards the front end of said beam.
 3. A groomingapparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said rigidly fastened strutsterminate in a vertically positioned portion, tracking links pivoted onthe said vertical end portion of the struts, and a curved grooming bladeand shear pivoted adjacent each end on the said tracking links to permiteither end of the said shear to assume a position above or below theplane of said beam.
 4. A trail grooming device as claimed in claim 3having side rails pivotally attached to the said tracking links and tothe said curved shear to prevent the side drifting of the device.